Tag Archives: students say on

Dorm life can be the best of times and the worst of times. The dorm roommate you have in college can become your best friend, who you hang out with and eat ice cream with, have deep talks late at night with, and stay in contact with for the rest of your life. Or he or she can be the kind of person who makes you get up earlier than you have to in order to go out of your way to walk on the other side of campus, even though it adds 8 extra minutes to your walk, just so you don’t have to pass by them and see their face on your way to class. From sharing a bathroom and an itty-bitty room to never having your own personal space for long, dorm life is an adventure.

This week, we asked students to tell us about their experience living in the dorms. Most of the students we talked to had moved out of the dorms into either an apartment or townhouse, but they still remembered their time in the halls very well. It was common for students to have lived in more than one dorm during their time living on campus.

“The worst thing about dorm life, according to most students, was, not surprisingly, the small and cramped rooms and having people around all the time.” Photo from: http://www.radford.edu/content/residence-life/home/residence-halls/muse-hall/gallery/jcr%3Acontent/par/gallery/items/galleryitem_0/largeimage.img.jpg/1433961867056.jpg

Our main question was, “What’s dorm life like?”

One student’s answer: “It smells like pot. And it’s really loud. And when it’s 80 degrees, they turn the heat on. When it’s 30 degrees, they turn the A/C on. So that’s fun.”

When asked what their favorite thing about living on campus was, the main answer was the proximity to everything, whether it be food places, classes, or friends. “If I wanted to go home and take a nap, I don’t have to walk up a hill. If I wanted Wendy’s, I can get Wendy’s. And it came along with a food plan, and I like food,” said one student. “All my friends live right next to me,” said another. Others talked about liking the study spaces and how it was a great way to make friends and meet new people.

The worst thing about dorm life, according to most students, was, not surprisingly, the small and cramped rooms and having people around all the time either next door, floors above you, floors below you, or in your room. Having to share such a small room was another least favorite thing about the dorms.

We also asked if they could change one thing about the dorms, what would it be? Most said everyone should have their own bathroom. Another popular answer was to have parking that was closer to campus. “You have to park 3,000 miles away,” said one student, and she wasn’t exaggerating much.

On April 19, Starbucks introduced the Unicorn Frappuccino. It is a novel idea, and according to Starbucks’ website, it contains Mango Syrup, colored with unicorn pink powder, blue drizzle made from white mocha, classic syrup, and sour unicorn blue powder, topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with blue and pink unicorn dust. The colorful Frappuccino was met with an overwhelming response. On campus, Starbucks sold out of the drink not long after it debuted. Stephen Colbert even tried it on his show and gave his review of it: “It tastes like I French kissed Tinker Bell.”

Most likely students saw it all over everyone’s Snapchat and Instagram. The aesthetics and visual appeal of the pretty swirled and whimsical colors caught everyone’s eye, and everyone wanted to try it. Starbucks even said on their website that it “was made to be Instagrammed.” Though very pretty on the outside, after people posted their photos of the frap and actually tasted the drink itself, many changed their minds about it.

When asked about their opinions on the Unicorn Frappuccino, several had not tried it but gave their opinions on it anyway. “I heard it wasn’t great and was curious as to why it wasn’t great,” said one student. Another said, “I thought it’d be cotton candy, but then I heard it was fruity.” One person who did try it said it tastes like a sweet tart, while another said it tasted like fruity pebbles.

When asked what their initial thoughts were when they heard Starbucks was offering the drink, some thought Starbucks was just trying to be trendy. “I think they’re just trying to keep up with the hype of coloring things pink and sparkly. But it tastes like a unicorn threw up in a cup.”

By far, most students did not like it, whether they had tasted it themselves or heard about it by way of other people. “I’ve heard that it tastes gross so I’m not sure I’d like to try it,” said one person.

“It tasted vaguely sweet, but the stuff on top was sour,” said another while one said, “It was milky but fruity.”

“It was bad,” said another simply.

So don’t always be fooled by something pretty and “Instagrammable” on the outside— it might end up resembling unicorn puke on the inside.

We’ve all heard it before: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But what does that really mean? Obviously, the straightforward meaning is that beauty cannot be determined by a general standard or popular opinion, but is instead judged by whoever is looking. Hence the reason why your mom can tell you that you are the most beautiful person in the world, but someone else (usually someone you want to impress) thinks you’re just okay-looking. But I believe that beauty is not so much in the eye of the beholder, but is instead in the eye and the mind of the person themselves, regardless of the beholder. Whether you are beautiful is something that others can have an opinion on, but ultimately, it is a decision you make for yourself.

“I believe that beauty is not so much in the eye of the beholder, but is instead in the eye and the mind of the person themselves.” Photo from: https://beyondthepulpitmabc.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/woman-looking-in-mirror.jpg

This week, we asked people on campus whether they believed they were beautiful or not. We got a wide range of answers. A popular response was “sometimes” or “on some days” and “maybe, but not right now.” Their reasoning was they felt they did not look the greatest at the moment because of stress or because they were not putting forth a lot of effort towards their appearance on that day. Some students viewed themselves as “in the middle” of the beauty spectrum and said they felt okay about themselves and were happy with themselves.

Some expressed little care about whether they were beautiful or not. “It’s not something I think about at all,” said one student, while another stated, “I don’t think of myself in that way.”

Others felt more strongly about the question. “If we’re talking about statistically attractive, I think that’s bullshit. Beauty is inner,” remarked one student. Another student declared, “Yes!” when asked the question and continued with, “I’ve accepted myself, and a lot of other people say it all the time.”

Male students who we talked to were generally more sure about themselves and their looks than females. When asked whether he thought he was beautiful, one student responded with, “Yes,” and for his reason, he answered, “Because I look in the mirror every day.” Another guy’s reply was “Of course,” and when asked why, the answer was, “Look at me.”

We’ve all walked through a cloud of smoke on our way to class at one time or another. As most students already know, Radford University is not a smoke-free campus. Students are allowed to smoke outside on campus as long as they are 25 feet away from buildings. However, some students still smoke relatively close to buildings.

“The majority of students we talked to expressed annoyance at being forced to walk through others’ smoke clouds.” Photo from: http://media.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem_impact/photo/pack-of-cigarettes-b0e864c515496a00.jpg

This week, we asked students whether they knew what a smoke-free campus was (a campus where the use of all tobacco products is prohibited) and whether they thought Radford should be a smoke-free campus. The majority of students we talked to expressed annoyance at being forced to walk through others’ smoke clouds while on campus. However, they also viewed the issue as something that doesn’t have much of an effect on them otherwise and said they were fine with Radford not banning smoking on campus completely. But other students believed that Radford should be a smoke-free campus or there should be designated areas where smoking is allowed. When asked how the university would enforce this smoke-free policy, some students were unsure. But others had ideas: some said the rules or restrictions could be implemented at Quest so students would know from the start what the policies were. Some said the university should treat cigarettes the same way as alcohol—that is, taking tobacco products from students if they are seen using them or charging them a fine.

If Radford does ever become a smoke-free campus, it will be interesting to see how they try and keep it that way. Perhaps they would use some of the tactics that the students we talked to thought of; it would be interesting to see if the ideas work. But one student had a point: “People are going to do what they want to do no matter what, so it doesn’t really matter [what the policies are].”

Black Coffee

Black Coffee is a joint media project created and produced by Whim and Radford on Camera. Black Coffee takes the talents of Radford’s musically gifted and provides them with an outlet to play for the community by means of student-run, student-produced media.